The present inventions relates to a liquid dispenser and more particularly to a dispenser of liquid pharmaceuticals that are to be delivered by spraying or by jet.
There already exist liquid dispensers of the type comprising in particular a tank fitted with liquid-extractor means such as a valve or a pump having a dispenser head mounted thereon.
The extractor means are suitable for being actuated by moving the tank axially relative to a delivery tube which is fed by the extractor means and which has a portion that projects outside and that is covered by said head.
Nevertheless, for certain pharmaceuticals such as homeopathic or ophthalmic liquids, for example, the doses to be administered correspond to volumes that are very small, of the order of 30 microliters (xcexcl) to 50 xcexcl.
Under such conditions, the liquid is packaged in tanks constituted by small-content flasks which are therefore of small size, thus making them difficult to use.
In particular, the head covering the spray tube is then of small dimensions which are ill-suited to the numerous handling operations which are nevertheless required in order to obtain axial displacement of the delivery tube.
An object of the present invention is to resolve those technical problems by providing packaging which is easier to handle, and to do so independently of the size of the doses of liquid that are to be dispensed.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by means of a dispenser of the above type characterized in that it comprises firstly a discharge duct connected in leakproof manner to the outer portion of the delivery tube and passing through an endpiece connected rigidly to a housing containing the tank, and secondly at least one side knob engaging the tank or the delivery tube and carrying a cam designed to co-operate in sliding contact with at least one sloping wall secured to said endpiece in such a manner that substantially radial thrust on said knob is transformed into axial displacement of the tube relative to the tank, thereby causing the liquid to be dispensed.
According to an advantageous characteristic, the tank is enclosed in removable manner inside the housing that is defined at its top end by said endpiece.
According to another characteristic, said knob has a pushbutton-forming outside flank whose generator lines are at least in part parallel with those of the duct.
Preferably, said pushbutton-forming outside flank extends in flush manner in openings formed in the side wall of the housing.
Advantageously, said pushbutton-forming outside flank has fluting.
In a variant, said endpiece is extended downwards by a substantially cylindrical skirt provided at its bottom end with fastener members for fastening to the housing.
In another variant, said housing is provided with a set of two diametrically opposite knobs.
Advantageously, the free end of said duct is provided with a spray nozzle.
Preferably, the duct is connected to said tube by mutual engagement with radial clamping.
In a first embodiment, the tank is held stationary inside the housing while said knob is secured to the tube and said sloping wall slopes towards the bottom of the discharge duct.
In which case, said discharge duct is slidably mounted inside the endpiece while the tank is held stationary in a stand fixed in optionally releasable manner to said housing.
Preferably, said knob is provided with a spacer-forming link arm connected to said duct.
Furthermore, said cam is formed by a bulge carried by the inside flanks of the knob.
In a second embodiment, said knob is secured to the tank which is axially movable inside the housing, while said sloping wall slopes towards the top of the discharge duct.
In which case, said discharge duct is fixedly mounted in the endpiece while the tank slides in an internal bore in the housing.
Preferably, said knob is mounted on the neck of the tank by means of a fastening ring.
Advantageously, said cam is formed by the bottom edge of the outside flank of the knob.
In a particular variant, said sloping walls present faces coming into contact with said cams and having varying slope.
The dispenser of the invention is of highly ergonomic shape and provides flexibility and great comfort in use.
A particularly suitable application lies in the field of spraying cosmetics such as hydrating substances or pharmaceuticals such as nasal solutions.
The dispenser can be adapted equally well to a pressurized tank fitted with a valve or to an atmospheric tank fitted with a pre-compression pump.
The pushbutton-forming side knobs provide control over the extractor means that is easy, reliable, and sensitive, thus enabling the liquid to be dispensed with great accuracy.
Furthermore, the overall appearance is very attractive and looks like a conventional bottle or flask type container.